


Pastry Chef Attempts to Fall in Love

by HolmesApothecary



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Baking, Boys In Love, Falling In Love, Gourmet Makes, M/M, and a blue apron, bon appetit test kitchen, patrick wears a beanie, yes David is Claire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 11:03:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21160616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolmesApothecary/pseuds/HolmesApothecary
Summary: No one ever expected David Rose to be a baker...actually, no one really ever expected anything of David beyond that he’d just go through life coasting on his family’s money.Or, the Bon Appetit Gourmet Makes au that no one asked for.UPDATE: I'm marking this as finished because sadly, BA doesn't inspire me to ever finish this after what went down there. Just know that the Pastry Chef was successful in his attempt to fall in love.





	Pastry Chef Attempts to Fall in Love

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, David Rose is Claire Saffitz. Watching Gourmet Makes for the 1000x time while sick awhile back, the idea of David as a pastry chef popped into my head and this just fell out. I only have this chapter wrote but I wanted to push myself to actually write a multi-chapter fic (not just a series) so I'm just jumping in. 
> 
> Thanks to Beth for the beta. 
> 
> Please note: The characters of David and Patrick fit best with these "chef personalities" for the fic. This does not in any way condone shipping Brad/Claire in real life.

No one ever expected David Rose to be a baker...actually, no one really ever expected anything of David beyond that he’d just go through life coasting on his family’s money.

No one ever expected David to be enthralled with Adelina’s baking either—cookies, pies, and delicate cakes—the process, more than the sweets themselves (although of course, he loved eating those). He loved seeing the messy dough come together into aesthetically beautiful precision. The steady hand and control needed to create a perfect bake. Adelina always brushed it off as just bringing sweet things together, but he knew it was more. 

“Yes, David,” she’d say with a fond look. “To be a true master baker, you need love—the secret ingredient.” 

Seven-year-old David wasn’t so sure about that and neither was thirty-four-year-old David. Because here he was, a top pastry chef, and the one person who had shown him love had been gone for years. Yet, it didn’t escape his notice that he still hesitated to call himself a “master baker.”

\------

Things were not going well for David. Whose idea was it again for him to do this show? Looking up at the camera, he sighed. 

“Okay, this...this...goop is incorrect and not even close to Twizzlers. So I guess it is back to the beginning...at the end of day 2.”

He signaled a cut to his camera guy, Ivan, and let his camera-ready demeanor fall just a bit more. He was this close to going home and hiding under the covers. 

“So, things are going well?” 

David looked over at Stevie who was currently blending some concoction in the Vitamix at the bench behind him. 

Stevie was concentrating on her recipe, but he could tell she was interested to know what was up with him. She wore her typical denim apron over a flannel shirt. How she could stand all day in those black converse, David would never know. He preferred black clogs...not the most fashion-forward of his pieces but tasteful...and necessary. Still, she was the test kitchen manager and the best of all of them, so he kept his comments about her footwear to himself. Other snark, however...

“This is all your fault,” he said, grabbing a real Twizzler from the pile on the gleaming marble prep counter. 

“My fault? How?”

“If you had just come with me to the botanical gardens to see the cherry blossoms this morning...you know I think best with some quiet meditation on the recipe. But no, I had to meet that guy…”

“Our new chef…”

“Some new chef,” he continued, clearly in full-on rant mode now. “Some hotshot, new chef who practically said my Twizzler experiment was a failure.”

“He did?” she said with a skeptical look on her face.

“Okay, so maybe I implied that the Twizzler experiment was a failure…”

David was flustered in a way he hadn’t been in a very long time. He liked things just so...even with a bad bake, if he followed the steps and was precise, it usually worked out in the end or he knew how to fix it. It’s why he became a pastry chef rather than spending his days globetrotting and languishing in his family’s money. He liked the orderly chaos of the kitchen. 

Then this morning Stevie ruined his perfectly planned day to let him know that Ray wanted them in the test kitchen early to meet a new chef. 

He had made it downtown and into the kitchen way before Stevie decided to show. Ray was fluttering around, nervous about a deadline for the magazine but excited to have a new chef on the team. He had quickly pushed David off to meet the new chef on his own. 

You couldn’t miss that blue apron and the earnest smile coming at him from across the room...and was that a beanie on his head? 

“David Rose, it’s nice to meet you. Ray’s been talking up your work all morning. I’m Patrick.” 

“Ah, yes. Likewise.” 

“So I hear you do a show on junk food.” 

David held up a pointed finger, interrupting, “Gourmet...gourmet junk food, actually. I take classic favorites and make them better. Better ingredients, better technique…just better.” 

“Huh, interesting.” 

David narrowed his eyes at Patrick’s words. “I’m in the middle of reimagining Twizzlers right now.” 

“Wow, that must be challenging.” 

The earnest face in front of him was disarming...how could someone’s eyes be so _loud_? David was flustered. 

“I mean...it’s challenging, but it isn’t a specific remake of Twizzlers, more a general aesthetic recreation.” 

“Huh.” 

“It’s going well,” David said almost like it was a question. 

“Right, do you have one I could try?”

“Well, I’m still oscillating on the method.”

“Oh,” Patrick said, hiding a smile behind his hand. It was cute, but David was annoyed now.

“Anyway...I am going to get my prep space ready to shoot.” 

“And oscillate.” 

“Yeah, okay, well welcome, Patrick!” David turned his back and started to march off towards the front prep area where he shot the show. 

“Thanks, David!” Patrick called out. “And if you need a hand…”

“Oh, I won’t. Thanks so much.” 

Five minutes with this guy and David was fucked. 

\------

Stevie had assured David that the Twizzlers were not a failure. He’d talked about it enough that she knew his general plan was solid...he just needed to finesse the details as always. 

They’d gone down to the back alley with some special brownies Stevie had made the night before. As the test kitchen manager, she was the one holding them all together—especially David. He wasn’t sure he would have survived his first week here without her.

Buzzing from the treat, David went back upstairs to gather his things. An empty kitchen greeted him. A rare occurrence—usually at least one of the others—Ted or Twyla or Jocelyn—were hard at work on something. Now he guessed, Patrick would be there sometimes too. 

Patrick—David knew he shouldn’t let the new guy get to him. He was an experienced baker...he knew what he was doing. He just needed to explain it better. He stuck his hand in the pocket of his pristine black apron, locating the paper with Patrick’s contact info that Ray had dropped off to them all. He’d just tell him. 

_ :::beep::: _

_ “Hi, David, it’s Patrick.” _ David hung his head back. Shit, he’d already messed this up. _ “I um was just calling to run my recipe by you in a little more detail. So...feel to give me a callback and I will be happy to walk you through it. Okay, Ciao.” _

“Ciao. I said ciao to that person.” David felt sweat break out on his forehead. He better clarify. 

_ :::beep::: _

_ “Hi PATRICK, yeah...think I...I think I called you David...which..that’s not, that’s not your name! You can just delete that text..the...the mess..the voicemail that I left you. Just thought it would be good to give you some background information on how I conceptualize the bakes. I feel you got the wrong impression about my methods and I...sorry I just got a text.” _

Fucking hell…”Oh god.”

_ :::beep::: _

_ “Yeah, the text cut us off. Anyway, it is more of a taffy mixed with fruit leather. I chose strawberry because they are the freshest flavor in season right now. Did you know Twizzlers include mineral oil as an ingredient? That is incorrect. I’m thinking a nice neutral oil like sunflower...” _

_ :::beep::: _

_ “I got sidetracked. Anyway I think I’m using a pastry tip on a piping bag to get the perfect Twizzler shape...someone said pasta extruder but no..pastry tip and piping is the way to go.” _

_ :::beep::: _

_ “Listen...I care about this a lot. I work hard at this when no one ever expected me to work hard at anything. And I don’t want you to think I’m just that guy who plays around with junk food. I do a good job. Anyway, welcome to the test kitchen. Bye.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Watch the Gourmet Makes Twizzler episode:[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuOnYDEIjUA&list=PLKtIunYVkv_RwB_yx1SZrZC-ddhxyXanh&index=21&t=12s).
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at [HolmesApothecary](https://holmesapothecary.tumblr.com/).


End file.
